How To identify The Different Types of Barcodes ?

Jan 07, 2005

We have created this webpage to assist you in identifying which barcode you may be trying to duplicate or what type would be the best for your application. The best way to identify the barcode is by matching the start and stop characters, at the beginning and ending of the barcode, to the barcode that you are trying to duplicate. For your ease, we have altered these bars to red.

Symbology

Description

Barcode Types

Example of Barcode

Code 39

The Code 39 barcode is the easiest to use of alpha-numeric barcodes and is designed for character self-checking, eliminating the requirement for check character calculations.

The full 128 character ASCII character set can be printed (in accordance with ISO 646) with the extended Code 39 barcode.

Code 128

Character set A allows for uppercase characters, punctuation, numbers and several special functions such as a return or tab.

CANADA POST USPS ISBT 128 USS Code 128 ISS Code 128

Character set B allows for upper and lower case letters, punctuation, numbers and a few select functions.

UCC/EAN-128

Character set C encodes only numbers and the FNC1 function (indicated in blue). Because the numbers are "interleaved" into pairs, two numbers are encoded into every barcode character which makes it a very high density barcode.

UCC 128 EAN 128 SSCC-18 SCC-14 GTIN (EAN14)

UPCa

Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode is used in the retail industry. UPC-A consists of 12 numbers.

UPC UCC12

UPCe

UPC-E consists of 12 numbers that are compressed into 8 numbers for small packages.

EAN13

The European Article Numbering System (EAN) is a superset of U.P.C. EAN-13 consists of 13 numbers.

ISBN ISSN Bookland JAN

EAN8

The European Article Numbering System (EAN) is a superset of U.P.C. EAN-8 consists of 8 digits for small packages.

Interleaved 2 of 5

Interleaved 2 of 5 (ITF) is a numeric only barcode used for encoding pairs of numbers in a high density barcode format.

ITF-14 EAN-14 SCC-14 GTIN DUN14 USPS

CodaBar

The symbology of the Codabar character set consists of bar code symbols representing characters 0-9, Letters A to D and the following symbols: - . $ / +

Rationalized Codabar USD-4 NW-7 2 of 7 Code

Industrial 2 of 5

The symbology of the Industrial Code 2 of 5 character set consists of bar code symbols representing the numbers 0-9, the start character and the stop character.

Code 2 of 5

Code 11

The symbology of the Code 11 character set consists of bar code symbols representing the numbers 0-9, a dash symbol, the start character and the stop character.

Code 93

The symbology of the Code 93 character set consists of bar code symbols representing characters 0-9, A-Z, the space character and the following symbols: /, + , %, - , . , $ .

MSI Plessey

The MSI Plessey barcode was designed in the 1970s by the Plessey Company in England and has been used primarily in libraries and retail applications.

MSI Code Pulse Width Modulated Barcode

POSTNET

The POSTNET (POSTal Numeric Encoding Technique) barcode is a special barcode developed by the US Post Office to encode zip code information.

Zip Zip + 4 DPBC

PLANET

Confirm is a new product from the U.S. Postal Service that uses a special barcode called PLANET to track letter-size mail electronically

USPS CONFIRM

MICR E13B

The MICR E13B font is a special font that is used on bank checks and drafts in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Panama, UK, and a few other countries to print MICR characters for magnetic recognition and optical character recognition systems.

MICR CMC7

The MICR CMC-7 font is a special font that is used on bank checks in Mexico, France, Spain and most Spanish speaking countries.

OCRa

OCRb

The OCR-A and OCR-B character sets contain upper case and lower case letters, numbers, and several special characters. The OCR-A font characters were created from ANSI X3.17-1981 specifications and the OCR-B font characters were created from ANSI X3.49-1982 specifications.

OCR-B1 Eurobanking OCR-A1 Eurobanking

PDF417

Large amounts of text and data can be stored securely and inexpensively when using the PDF-417 symbology. Using Reed Solomon error correction, the printed PDF417 symbol can withstand damage without causing loss of data.

Data Matrix

Data Matrix is a very area efficient 2Dbarcode symbology that uses a unique square module perimeter pattern that helps the barcode scanner determine the cell locations. It can encode letters, numbers, text and actual bytes of data; it can encode just about anything including extended characters, unicode characters and photos.

Maxi Code

MaxiCode is a 2D (two-dimensional) matrix symbology containing hexagon modules in a 1" square area. MaxiCode is used by the UPS (United Parcel Service) on packing slips for package sortation and addressing.